Gas turbine engines are generally known in the art and used in a wide range of applications, such as propulsion engines and auxiliary power unit engines for aircraft. In a typical configuration, a turbine engine includes rows of stator airfoils and rotor blades disposed in an alternating sequence along the axial length of a generally annular hot gas flow path. The rotor blades are mounted on the periphery of rotor disks coupled to a main engine shaft. The stator airfoils are coupled to inner and outer endwalls and optimally direct hot combustion gases to the rotor blades, thus resulting in rotary driving of the rotor disks to provide an engine output.
The stator airfoils and rotor blades typically have arcuate shapes with generally concave pressure sides and generally convex suction sides extending axially in chords between opposite leading and trailing edges. During operation, the aerodynamic contours of the stator airfoils and rotor blades, and corresponding flow passages therebetween, are configured in an attempt to maximize energy extraction from the combustion gases. The complex three-dimensional (3D) configuration of the stator airfoils and rotor blades results in varied temperature and pressure distributions over the surfaces of the stator airfoils and rotor blades. These distributions exacerbate design and operation issues, particularly at higher temperatures. From the viewpoint of efficiency, it is desirable to operate the turbine at temperatures as high as possible. However, at these high temperatures, some conventional engines may have problems, particularly durability issues.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved turbine components and manufacturing methods that enable operation at higher temperatures and/or improved durability. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.